/news-archive/tag/ruby-trotter/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Wed, 27 Apr 2022 14:00:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2022/04/27/ruby-trotter-graduation/ Wed, 27 Apr 2022 14:00:47 +0000 /news/?p=81421 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Follows in Family鈥檚 Footsteps聽]]> chemistry and Spanish, she will likely walk across the stage twice on May 14 – during the morning ceremony and in the afternoon. Joint degrees have also become a family tradition. 鈥淢y mother, Idonia Mitchell Trotter (now Gardner), attended the University of Little Rock for undergraduate studies from fall 2002 to fall 2004 completing a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice as a first-generation college student,鈥� Trotter said.聽 鈥淪he is the youngest of eight children whose mother had only a 10th grade education and father with a 6th grade education.鈥� Her mother was later accepted into the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law and concurrently accepted into the Master of Public Service program at the 糖心Vlog传媒 Clinton School of Public Service. 鈥淚n May 2009, she became the first ever joint JD/MPS degree recipient in the world,鈥� Trotter said. 鈥淚 am very proud of my mom and saw first-hand how 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock positively impacted her career and our lives.鈥� In addition, Trotter鈥檚 aunt Regatta Mitchell graduated from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in health sciences. As she reflected on her own time at the university, Trotter said she鈥檚 had an incredible college experience. 鈥淚 am so very blessed to have gone to school here and met such amazing people and have opportunities that I鈥檇 never dreamed of when I was in high school,鈥� she said, adding that she鈥檚 been involved with the Baptist Collegiate Ministry, the Learning Assistant Program, the American Chemical Society, and many other campus groups. Trotter plans to apply to medical school in May and matriculate in 2023. 鈥淚 would love to become a physician, specializing particularly in pediatrics, internal medicine, or emergency medicine,鈥� she said. 鈥淒uring my gap year, I plan to move in with my husband in San Antonio, Texas, and will work either a research or public health position.鈥� An accomplished violinist, Trotter (now Viera Corral) met her husband when they both played and made beautiful music together. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been so cool to see my growth over the years, especially in high school where I was able to make Region Orchestra twice and play in the pit orchestra for two of our musicals,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is actually where I met my husband, with him across from me playing viola. I love the violin and continue to use it as an outlet for the stress of my studies.鈥� Trotter, whose other interests include nanomedicine, hiking, and learning new recipes, noted that she’s gotten a lot of help along the way to graduation. 鈥滿y motivations that have gotten me through these four years are my faith, my now-husband (as of March 2022), and support from incredible mentors, family, and friends,鈥� she said. The Pine Bluff, Arkansas, native spent part of her childhood in Little Rock. She attended high school in Houston, Texas, before coming to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock through the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program. The highly selective honors program enrolls 25 new scholars each year. 鈥淚 actually came into college as a pre-medical biology major four years ago,鈥� she said. 鈥淒r. Mark Baillie was my General Chemistry I and II professor, and he made the course so interactive and interesting that I had a lot of fun in it.鈥� During a conversation, Dr. Baillie pointed out that she was gifted in chemistry and asked why she wasn鈥檛 majoring in it. 鈥淚 told him that I always saw chemistry as a hard subject and that I really liked biology in high school,鈥� she explained. 鈥淗e urged me to not run away from something that I love, no matter how hard it is. And, after a few days thinking about it, I decided to go and declare my chemistry major.鈥� Trotter added a Spanish major after volunteering at and seeing the intense need for interpreters for the Spanish-speaking patients. The clinic is a free, non-profit medical and dental clinic in Little Rock. That experience and the support of university faculty were phenomenal, she said. 鈥溙切腣log传媒 Little Rock truly has some of the best mentors that I could ask for,鈥� Trotter said. 鈥淚 want to thank Dr. Shawn Bourdo for all of his support over the years, for helping me to grow and giving me a home at the nano center, and for becoming like family to me. I鈥檇 also love to thank Dr. Mark Baillie, Dr. Michael Moore, Dr. Simon Hawkins, Dr. Jessica Scott, Ms. Ronia Kattoum, and Dr. Noureen Siraj for their encouragement, mentorship, and support over these four years.鈥� Her time at Harmony Health Clinic 鈥渉as been the most meaningful thing I鈥檝e been able to do in my undergraduate experience. From medical receptionist work towards the beginning, to now being able to serve as an interpreter on the team, I鈥檝e had such a meaningful experience helping so many patients receive free health care.鈥� She is thankful for the clinic鈥檚 executive director, Angela Harris, and all of her fellow clinic volunteers. 鈥淲ithout coming to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, I鈥檓 not sure if I would have been afforded the wealth of opportunities that I have been blessed to experience,鈥� Trotter said. 鈥淭he research done at our university is so engaging and interesting, and there is such an emphasis on getting undergraduate students involved in the laboratory,鈥� she said, adding that her work at the Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences on campus has been so rewarding. Trotter was published as a second author in the Journal of Nanobiotechnology last year. 鈥淭his is something that I absolutely have not heard of at many other universities, so I am thrilled to have been able to research with these other scientists and to get to know them so well over the last three聽 years,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is truly a family environment at the Nano Center.鈥� While attending 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Trotter has received several awards including the Service to the Chemistry Department Award for her efforts as a learning assistant and a Signature Experience Grant for her research at the Nano Center with Dr. Shawn Bourdo. She was also a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship recipient, a very competitive and prestigious award for study abroad purposes, even though her travel plans were canceled due to COVID-19. In 2021, Trotter was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society as one of the top graduating seniors. She also received another Signature Experience Grant, and won first place at the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) conference for a poster presentation for her research on graphene nanomaterials and polymer biomaterials. She recently won an American Chemical Society (ACS) Local Outstanding Student Award and was honored as BA Chemistry Student of the Year at the Chemistry Department Award Ceremony on April 21. This story was written by Bobbie Handcock.]]> /news-archive/2021/10/08/trotter-student-resercher-spotlight/ Fri, 08 Oct 2021 14:00:12 +0000 /news/?p=79999 ... Spotlight on Nanotechnology Researchers: Ruby Trotter]]> What is your Signature Experience project? We鈥檝e been working with graphene, a nanomaterial that鈥檚 promising for bone tissue regeneration technologies. Graphene is a single layer of carbon that is shaped in a flat sheet with a honeycomb-like structure and has several good biomedical properties. Graphene is tiny, so we mix it into a solution of water and ethanol to get it evenly dispersed. We have made scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration and want to see how graphene would interact with the human body. Right now, we鈥檙e studying different pathways by which it would degrade the body, and are continuing to study how useful it would be for bone tissue regeneration in the future. Specifically, we鈥檙e using microscopic images and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy to study how graphene interacts with cells in the immune system and how it degrades over time in the cells. The UV-vis technique allows us to see how light is absorbed as it passes through the sample. Based on that, we can tell the concentration of the graphene mixture in the cells. That way, we can see how much the concentration of the mixture dropped degraded over time. What do you find most interesting about this project? I really enjoy the fact that this project incorporates a lot of chemistry and biology. After I graduate, I want to become a physician, and what I鈥檓 learning right now contributes to that goal. I love chemistry, and I appreciate that I get to explore biology along with it. I also think nanotechnology is fascinating, because you can take small materials and do big things. What is it like to work with your mentor, Dr. Shawn Bourdo? It鈥檚 really awesome to work with Dr. Bourdo. I started working with him in July 2019, the summer before my sophomore year. He鈥檚 always been very supportive and outgoing. No matter his schedule, he always accommodates me when I have questions. Even though some of my classes aren鈥檛 directly related to the work I do at the Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, I have found a lot of topics that overlap with the work I do, and he has always been there to help me understand these concepts better. I always say I hit the mentor jackpot with Dr. Bourdo. How did you hear about the Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences?聽 I didn鈥檛 know much about nanotechnology when I first started here. Before my sophomore year, I was looking for research opportunities, and the previous student researcher under Dr. Bourdo reached out to me and told me about this position. What are your plans after graduation? I want to be a pediatrician and also enter the Master of Public Health program, because I am interested in addressing health disparities in different communities. After graduation, I plan to take a gap year to work as either an emergency medical technician or a medical scribe to gain experience in the field. After that, I plan to enter medical school in 2023.]]> /news-archive/2018/06/21/donaghey-scholars/ Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:46:13 +0000 /news/?p=70844 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock announces Donaghey Scholars for 2018-19]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock welcomes 25 new Donaghey Scholars for the 2018-2019 academic year. The Donaghey Scholars Program admissions process is highly competitive. The most promising applicants are invited to campus for an interview. Admission decisions are based on academic record, test scores, leadership ability, community service, interest in other cultures, recommendation letters, admissions essays, and the interview. This year’s incoming class of Donaghey Scholars has an average ACT score of 31. Donaghey Scholars receive a financial package that includes full tuition and fees (up to 18 hours per semester), a stipend, financial assistance to study abroad, a housing subsidy, and a new laptop. The program features an interdisciplinary core curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking, writing, discussion, and project-based learning that engages with the city of Little Rock. The students, hometown, high school and intended major are:

• Emma Chambers, of Little Rock, Pulaski Academy, Studio Art
• Alondra Cruz, of Little Rock, Mills University Studies High School, Business
• Olivia Fitzgibbon, of Little Rock, eStem, Public Relations
• Lucca Garcia, of Sheridan, Catholic High School, Nursing
• Sadie Goss, of El Dorado, Parkers Chapel High School, Criminal Justice and Biology
• Mohib Hafeez, of Little Rock, Lisa Academy West, Biology and Chemistry/ Pre-Med
• LaTambria Hampton, of Jonesboro, Academies at Jonesboro High School, Biology and Chemistry/ Pre-Med
• Jordan Hancock, of Benton, Benton High School, Art History
• Meagan Herbold, of Mabelvale, Bryant High School, Physics and Mathematics
• Khristina Huff, of Cleveland, Clinton High School, Biology and Chemistry/ Pre-Med
• Sabah Ismail, of Fort Smith, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, Political Science
• Nicholas Jaeger, of Leslie, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, Computer Science
• Savannah James, of North Little Rock, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, Political Science
• Amelia Jilek, of Alexander, Bryant High School, Philosophy/ Pre-Law
• Greyson Kauffman, of Cabot, 聽Cabot High School, Criminal Justice and Psychology
• Sam Koon, of Little Rock, Little Rock Central High School, English/ Pre-Law
• Sydney Kornelsen, of Fallbrook, CA, Escondido Charter High School, Chemistry
• Hannah Krehbiel, of Fort Smith, Northside High School, Anthropology and Chemistry
• Cecily Mobley, of Fouke, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, Systems Engineering
• Karson Oakes, of Paragould, Paragould Senior High School, Computer Science
• Gage Pipkin, of Jonesboro, Westside High School, Theatre
• Philip Plouch, of Little Rock, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, Computer Science
• Gabrielle Roberts, of Jonesboro, Academies at Jonesboro High School, Biology/ Pre-Vet
• Aleigha Smith, of Ward, Cabot High School, Accounting
• Ruby Trotter, of Houston, TX, Jersey Village High School, Biology and Chemistry/ Pre-Med

Photo by Benjamin Krain]]>